Preview: Ross County vs. Hearts - prediction, team news, lineups

Ross County will look to end a three-game winless run in all competitions when they welcome Hearts to the Global Energy Stadium for Saturday's Scottish Premiership meeting.

The visitors, meanwhile, are hoping to claim back-to-back victories after enjoying success in the Scottish League Cup in midweek.

Match preview

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After preserving their top-flight status with a penalty-shootout win in the relegation playoff, Ross County will be encouraged by the steady start that they have made to the Scottish Premiership season.

They picked up six points in their opening four matches courtesy of victories over St Johnstone and Kilmarnock before they added to their points tally with a 1-1 draw against Livingston.

Unfortunately for Malky Mackay's side, they suffered their biggest defeat of the season last weekend when they were thrashed 4-0 by Aberdeen.

They were unable to avenge that defeat in Wednesday's Scottish League Cup quarter-final against the same opponent, falling to a 2-1 defeat after playing the majority of the contest with 10 men following Jack Baldwin's red card.

Ross County, who occupy seventh place, will turn their attention to Saturday's contest, where they will attempt to claim their first victory over Hearts since March 2017.

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Hearts have experienced a mixed start to the Scottish Premiership season, winning two, drawing one and losing three of their opening six games.

After taking four points from their first two matches, Steven Naismith's side were stopped in their tracks by consecutive 1-0 defeats to Dundee and Motherwell, before they returned to winning ways with a 2-0 home victory over Aberdeen.

They missed the opportunity to follow that result with another victory, as they fell to a narrow 1-0 defeat in their away meeting with St Mirren last weekend, leaving them in sixth place and level on seven points with Saturday's opponents.

In contrast to Ross County, the Jambos enjoyed a successful outing in the Scottish League Cup in midweek, with Alex Lowry netting a stoppage-time winner to guide his team to a 2-1 victory over Kilmarnock, sealing their place in the semi-finals for the first time since the 2019-20 season.

While Rangers await Hearts at Hampden Park in November's semi-final, Naismith's charges will focus on league matters in the meantime, beginning with Saturday's encounter at Tynecastle, where they will look to claim back-to-back home victories.

Team News

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Ross County are still without the services of long-term absentees Ross Callachan and Ben Paton, who are both sidelined with knee injuries.

Max Sheaf is nearing a return to action after missing the last five matches through injury, but Saturday's contest will come too soon for the pair.

After being shown a straight red card in Wednesday's cup tie, Baldwin will miss the meeting with Hearts through suspension.

As for the visitors, their injury list includes Craig Gordon, Alexander Cochrane, Barrie McKay, Craig Halkett, Nathaniel Atkinson and Kyosuke Tagawa.

Yutaro Oda is progressing well in his recovery from a hamstring issue, but he remains unavailable for Saturday's away trip.

Striker Liam Boyce is expected to return to the starting lineup after being used as a substitute in the midweek cup win over Kilmarnock.

Ross County possible starting lineup:

Laidlaw; Nightingale, Leak, Harmon; Brown, Randall, Turner, Reid; Dhanda; Murray, White

Hearts possible starting lineup:

Clark; Sibbick, Kent, Rowles, Kingsley; Nieuwenhof, Devlin; Grant, Boyce, Vargas; Shankland

We say: Ross County 1-2 Hearts

Although Hearts have been inconsistent in the Scottish Premiership, they will carry some momentum into Saturday's encounter following a dramatic victory in the Scottish League Cup.

We think that the visitors will follow that result by claiming all three points against a side they have beaten in the last three meetings.

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